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GOOD NIGHT, MONKEY BOY

Name: GOOD NIGHT, MONKEY BOY
Author: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
ISBN: 0-375-81121-4

by Jarrett J. Krosoczka & illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 12, 2001

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You’ll know the type, and here he is especially winning: a little boy who knows all the tricks to prolong the act of going to bed. Decked out in his monkey pj’s, the boy sidles off into the kitchen to grab a banana as soon as the call goes up for bedtime. “Sorry, no bananas before bedtime, Monkey Boy,” says his mother—the single sentence splashed across the page in big type that has the effect of whitewash—as she ushers him to the bathroom for some tooth-brushing. Monkey Boy is about to apply the toothpaste to his fiery mop of red hair when his mother intervenes and points him toward the bath, where he proceeds to turn the shower curtain bar into a piece of gymnastic equipment. Artful perspectives place mom as a presence, large and looming, even if it’s only her hand, but the child is always the center of each spread, in fact mom’s head and face are never seen. Finally, it’s into bed and ready for a story . . . hey, where’d that banana come from? “ ‘Good night, Monkey Boy. I love you, too, Monkey Boy.’ ” And sure as the sun is going to rise, once mom is gone, out comes the flashlight and the half-eaten banana. Despite the up-tempo delivery, Krosoczka’a story can be read as a bedtime tale—if not exactly a lullaby—for the voluptuous colors and the quilt-deep qualities of the full-bleed, double-paged spreads work like a hearty meal on the wakefulness of young readers. (Picture book. 2-5)

Pub Date: June 12, 2001

ISBN: 0-375-81121-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2001

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
A LITTLE BIT SUPER
edited by Leah Henderson & Gary D. Schmidt ; illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

- BOOK REVIEW
SUNSHINE
by Jarrett J. Krosoczka ; illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

- BOOK REVIEW
CHICKEN TALK
by Patricia MacLachlan ; illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

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PEPPA'S GIANT PUMPKIN

From the Peppa Pig series

by Samantha Lizzio ; illustrated by eOne ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 30, 2019

This TV rerun in board-book form has nothing new to offer.

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Peppa hopes to join her classmates in a Halloween pumpkin competition in this adaptation of a story from the popular British television program Peppa Pig.

With the help of Granny and Grandpa Pig, Peppa turns her giant pumpkin, which is the size of a compact car, into a jack-o’-lantern. The trio is flummoxed when it comes time to transport the pumpkin to the competition, so they call on Miss Rabbit and her helicopter to airlift the pumpkin to the festivities as Peppa and her grandparents ride inside. Peppa arrives just in time for the contest and wins the prize for best flying pumpkin. The scenes look as if they are pulled directly from the television show, right down to the rectangular framing of some of the scenes. While the story is literally nothing new, the text is serviceable, describing the action in two to three sentences per page. The pumpkin-shaped book and orange foil cover will likely attract youngsters, whether they are Peppa fans or not.

This TV rerun in board-book form has nothing new to offer. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: July 30, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-338-33922-2

Page Count: 10

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.

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A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.

A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)